Tech

Prynt Case makes Harry Potter's moving photos a reality

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Unlike photos in the Muggle world, photos in the wizarding world of Harry Potter aren't static. They're living images, where people and things move around, and people even "visit" other pictures.

Magic will never be real, but with the Prynt Case — a ZINK paper-based printer accessory that connects to smartphones and uses augmented reality through an app to overlay videos on top of the printed photos — we now have the closest thing to real Harry Potter photos. (Minus the people-wandering-into-other-pictures part, of course.)

Originally launched on Kickstarter last year, Prynt Corp.'s Prynt Case was quickly funded and blew past its $50,000 goal, collecting over $1.5 million by the end of its campaign. Kickstarter backers started receiving their Prynt Cases last year and Prynt Corp. is now selling them directly through its website.

The Prynt Case's $149 price may seem steep, but it's not much more than other ZINK paper-based printers like the $130 Polaroid Zip Instant Photoprinter. It comes in black (with a white grip) or white (with a gray grip).

Once you've picked a color, you'll need to pick the right adapter for your smartphone. There are adapters for the iPhone 5C/5/5S/6/6S and Samsung Galaxy S4/S5. When I asked Prynt Corp. co-founder Clément Perrot why there aren't cases for the larger iPhone 6 Plus/6S Plus (or larger phones) or the newest Galaxy S6, he said they're starting small and working their way up. Fair enough. Should you switch your phone to any of the supported devices, you can buy a different adapter for $19.

There's nothing more annoying than spending lots of money on a gadget only to realize you need to spend more money for something else before you can even use it. So it was a nice surprise to see a free pack of ZINK paper (10-sheets) included inside of the box.

Prynt Case review

Hidden videos

The Prynt Case is a $150 printer accessory for your smartphone. Using the Prynt app, you can bring your photos to life by unlocking a short video clip.

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

Augmented reality

To see the five-second video embedded in each picture, simply "scan" the image with the app.

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

Juts out

I'm not entirely in love with how your smartphone juts out of the case.

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

Make edits

The Prynt app lets you make a number of photo edits, add text and stamps and doodles.

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

Printing time

It can take up to 50 seconds to print out a photo.

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

Animated fun

I love how the animation showing the picture comes out as it's printing.

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

Regular photos

You don't have to play with the augmented reality.

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

Stick them anywhere

All ZINK photos have a sticky adhesive on the back so you can stick them anywhere.

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

Supported phones

The Prynt Case only supports a handful of photos right now including the iPhone 5/5S/5C/6/6S and Samsung Galaxy S4/S5.

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

Easy paper loading

Pop open the back tray and load in a pack of 10-sheets of ZINK paper.

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

Battery life

The Prynt Case's battery life is good for up to 20 prints, which is two packs of ZINK paper.

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

Prynting videos

The Prynt Case isn't what I'd consider an elegant device. It's chunky and plasticky, and the way your phone connects to it isn't exactly seamless; you have to push a big button on the side of the case to raise the phone adapter with the connector (Lightning or Micro USB) up before you can slide your phone in. (It's more like jamming your phone in with a little bit of force to make sure it's properly connected or else it'll disconnect unexpectedly.) What the Prynt Case lacks in elegance, though, it makes up with function.

The only real assembly required is snapping the phone adapter into the Prynt Case and dropping a pack of ZINK paper into the backside tray. On Amazon, a 20-sheet pack costs $10, a 30-sheet pack for $15 and a 50-sheet pack for for $25, which works out to $0.50 per shot. Pretty cheap, if you ask me.

From there, creating "Harry Potter-style" photos using augmented reality is a snapshot away. The Prynt app is your typical camera app. There's a red shutter button, a button to flip between the back and front camera, a flash toggle, a button to access your camera roll, and a button to scan photos (more on that in sec).

There are two ways to take photos: Pressing the onscreen shutter button or pressing the physical shutter button on the Prynt Case. Immediately after taking a photo, the app will record a five-second video that will be associated with that specific photo.

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

Right before you print out a photo, you can edit it with the built-in photo editor. There are options to enhance the photo's colors, add a filter, add frames, add stickers, add text and add a doodle. The downside is that you can only make edits immediately after you've taken a photo; you can't edit photos you've already saved.

Once you've made edits (or not), you hit the Prynt logo button, the photo "renders" (read: sends the data to the printer) and within 50 seconds, you've got a 2 x 3-inch sticker photo. These are exactly the same sticker photos that the Zip Instant Photoprinter and Polaroid Snap print out. As such, the print quality is the same: Colors are darker and have a cooler temperature (bluer) than real life and sometimes there are some noticeable streak lines. As I've said in my other reviews of ZINK-based printer products, I think the "lo-fi" look is charming and reminds me of the imperfections of film and instant photos, but you may feel differently.

The app, for the most part, is easy to use. On several occasions, the app kept getting stuck on the "rendering" screen; quitting and reopening the app usually fixed the issue, but I wish there was a "cancel" button. There's also no way to delete Prynt photos saved to the "My Prynts" library and no option to change the privacy (public or private) of a Prynt's video after you first set it. Bear in mind, I was using a pre-release app, so it's entirely possible the bugs will be squashed in the public release (in February) and these missing functions will be added in a future update.

With the Prynt app, printed photos are more than just paper images, they are living moments. Using the app's built-in "scanner," you can point your phone's camera at a prynted (get it?) photo and it will overlay the recorded video over it.

I was completely blown away the very first time I saw a photo "come to life." It felt like sorcery. I showed the app to no fewer than two dozen friends and the response was always the same: That's amazing! It's like magic!

I thought the novelty would wear off fast, but it didn't. By the twentieth photo, I was still l amazed.

Under good lighting, the scanner detected photos and brought up the hidden video fairly quickly. It's not that the app merely overlays a video on top of a photo that is so impressive, but that it tracks the photo's movement so you can move it around within a few inches of the camera and turn it to a limited degree, making it feel that much more like you're holding a video.

The augmented reality is so impressive, I overlooked the scanner's shortcomings. Sometimes the scanner couldn't detect a photo because the print was too dark, the lighting was poor or the camera was out of focus. Turning on the app's flashlight helped, but it also introduced glare to the photos, which made it harder for the app ID them.

Prynt photos are saved to inside of the app and the embedded videos are stored in a private account in the cloud.

Simply magical

Image: Brittany Herbert/Mashable

It's no secret I love products that print out photos using ZINK sticker paper. I was head over heels for the Polaroid Zip Instant Photoprinter and Polaroid Snap camera, and now I'm enamored with the Prynt Case.

It's not hard to see Polaroid creating its own augmented reality app and stealing Prynt's idea. Searching around, it looks like augmented reality photos that work ZINK-based printers aren't exactly original. LifePrint is a standalone printer that pairs with smartphones and uses an app to pretty much deliver the same kind of living photos. In fact, the the Prynt Case is really nothing more than a portable printer and you don't even need it — only the app — to use the augmented reality feature.

The augmented reality videos aren't limited to your phone. Your friends can download the app, and so long as the photo videos are set to public, they can use the app's scanner and "unlock" the hidden videos within your photos.

Beyond some of the app's bugs, the grainy image quality and semi-low battery life (the Prynt Case's rechargeable battery is only good for about 20 prints), the Prynt Case and its corresponding app literally add another layer of fun and entertainment to ZINK-printed sticker photos.

Prynt Case

The Good

Easy to use app • Fast printing • Augmented reality is magical

The Bad

Printed pictures can be a little dark • Prynt Case doesn't charge up iPhone simultaneously • Some annoying bugs/missing features in pre-release app

The Bottom Line

Printing sticker photos and bringing them to life is a truly magical experience with the Prynt Case.

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